The Men Who Saved: The 442nd Regimental Combat Team

Joe Baca said, “As costly as it was in the lives of our men and women in uniform, in military assets, and in esteem and pride, Pearl Harbor was a watershed moment for America.” America has changed every second since it was first founded either positively or negatively. However, many major events have occurred that caused America to enter a turning point. World war 2, as a whole, shifted Americans’ way of living and thinking. Yet there is one event that happened within world war 2 that is the main reason for America’s crucial transforming. The bombing at Pearl Harbor, even though it was devastating, triggered the shift in America.

During arduous combat operations coinciding with a high OPTEMPO unit cohesion may flux toward a detriment of mission success. This report will focus on the 56TH Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) in order to address the critical leadership problem. In addition, focus will center on relevant facts and assumptions that led to the critical leadership problem and rectify the issues. Furthermore, a new ABCT vision will be published in order to restructure the organizational culture toward a unified purpose and an increase in esprit de corps. (Verify with lesson for correct purpose)

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was a segregated U.S. Army. They fought in World War II. It was made up of Japanese Americans that were from the Mainland and Hawaii. The men from Mainland thought that the Hawaiians didn’t speak English very well. There was a conflict between both groups and got sent to a detention camp. The 442nd learned about teamwork very fast. They decided they would complete every assignment that came their way. Frank Hachiya wrote a letter to his 8th grade teacher before he was killed. In addition, he talked about all his regrets in life and how he wasted most of his time. At his funeral, his teacher read the letter.

The 442 restored their honor. They returned home heros of war and were looked at differently by all Americans, not as aliens, but as United States citizens. They became the most decorated combat team in U.S. history and freed their families from internment camps restoring honor. “The 100th Battalion/442nd RCT, in just over one year, compiled an astonishing combat record. But this segregated unit, almost entirely comprised of Japanese Americans, suffered an equally remarkable number, about 800, killed or missing in action. They won seven Distinguished Unit Citations, including one awarded personally by President Harry Truman… Over 4,000 Purple Hearts, 29 Distinguished Service Crosses, 588 Silver Stars, and more than 4,000 Bronze

When Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941, it set into motion a chain of events that would radically transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of people that, in one way or another, had ties to Axis countries, though they were not necessarily loyal to them (Harmening). This transformation started with government-sponsored arrests and kidnapping of Japanese, Germans, and Italians living in America and Latin America (Russell 39).

December of 1941, fundamentally altered the United States and its role globally. Pearl Harbour changed attitudes related to war involvement for many American’s. Patriotism soared like

On December 7th 1941 Japanese forces launched a sneak attack on a U.S. naval base. Hundreds were killed and of the 8 ships on station only 3 were not destroyed and even those were badly damaged(Naval History And Heritage Command). This attack was not only bad for America's military, but her people as well. This raid was a defining moment in history, it had a profound affect on America and her people. Causing abruptly, the joining of america in the second world war.

It all started the morning of December 7, 1941 when Japanese leaders decided to bomb the United States. Families were then broke apart and things became much more complex in the lives of Americans. Pearl Harbor was not “just a bombing,” but in reality it is so much more. This bombing had a great impact on the whole world for World War II. The bombing of Pearl Harbor had many situations before the bombing, during the bombing, and after the bombing.

The Pearl Harbor incident is an instant in history that changed our world views and also our standing in the world. During this time World War II was at its peak and the United States was going through a horrendous plunge in the stock market which threw us into the Great depression. But the bombing of Pearl Harbor is an event that will haunt our nation for the rest of history and is unforgettable due to what the nation went through after that incident. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, otherwise known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States and also the representative of the nation during this treacherous time. When the nation was broken and needed a little light of hope due to the horrible circumstances that they were put

Dec. 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor: During WWII, the Japanese bombed an American military base located in Hawaii because they wanted to increase their power in the Pacific. The bombing of Pearl Harbor left more than 2000 men dead and injured more than 1000. The attack also causes Congress to declare war on Japan the following day meaning the United States was officially involved in WWII. The attack on Pearl Harbor is important because it was the main factor that lead the United States to get involved in World War II.

World War II was a war that everyone will remember and will be remembered for many years to come. It could even be said that it killed more people, destroyed more property, and had far more reaching effects than any other war in history. New technologies were used in the war, such as the Atomic bomb, which opened up the nuclear age. Pearl Harbor was one of those events that will never be forgotten by Americans. Pearl Harbor was especially memorable to America because that caused us to get involved in the war and it outraged everyone in the country. The United States played a key role in the war. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was a major turning point in World War II.

The first attack against the U.S. done by the Japanese was the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor just before 8 a.m., it was devastating. The Japanese fighter planes destroyed around 20 naval ships and eight of them were some of the United State’s biggest battleships. The Japanese didn’t just destroy vessels, they also managed to destroy around 300 airplanes. The amount of American soldier’s lives lost was heart-rending, there were over 2,000 Soldiers and Sailors lost from the American fleet. There were also more than 1,000 wounded or critically injured on that horrifying day. The day of the Pearl Harbor attacks became known as “a date which will live in infamy”, and this day was only the beginning. This was only the midpoint of Japan’s attacks, the second half was the Bataan Death March.

In 1943 after a year of Japanese Americans being denied to join the military the Roosevelt administration allowed them to enter combat. The 442nd regiment was formed from Japanese American men. They fought in the Italian mountains. In a nighttime march up Mt.folgorita the 442 regiment broke a six month stalemate at the Gothic line. They chased the Germans for weeks until they finally surrendered. Meanwhile the 522 field artillery battalion liberated Jews from the nachau concentration camp. The 442 regiment is the most decorated soldiers in WWII (Densho,

The Vietnam War was a prolong struggle of communist faction forcing unification of north and South Vietnam. To prevent the spread of communism the United States allied with the South Vietnamese to fight back against the communist faction. The Vietnam War span over 18 years it was apparent that there was no way in winning the war. The U.S leaders lost the support of the American people in fighting a war we can’t win. The U.S leaders thought up and created an elite peace keeping force called the Green Berets. The Green Berets gained a lot of attention to the media through books, music, and movies. A compilation of short stories of the Vietnam War by Tim O’Brien is one of those books. In Tim O’Brien book

“December 7, 1941 - A Date Which Will live in Infamy.” (Roosevelt, Franklin D.). Even today, nearly seventy years later, we still remember the Pearl Harbor attack launched by Japan. This catastrophic attack on the United States naval base in Hawaii was what pushed the United States of America into World War two. A Japanese Admiral decided to attack the base secretly hoping to cripple the U.S. fleet, this eventually led to United States involvement in the war and prove to be a huge mistake for the Japanese. Today we can witness the long lasting affects Pearl Harbor had on us. We can see the affects it had on Japan because of our retaliation for the bombing and attack of Pearl Harbor. The cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki are witnesses to what the Pearl Harbor attack eventually led too. The United Sates government declared war on Japan, which led to fighting in the Pacific, which eventually led to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the surrender of the Japanese government. Even until today Japan has restrictions on its military capacity. The infamous day of The Pearl Harbor Attack and its aftermath affected both the United States and Japan greatly and even today, nearly seventy year later, we can still witness some of the long lasting effects.